The present invention relates particularly to an enhanced pop rivet.
A pop rivet is used to join two different types of material. A conventional pop rivet consists of two parts: a drive pin and a rivet housing. The drive pin is usually a solid cylindrical rod made of a hardened material, such as steel. The rivet housing is usually a hollow cylindrical tube open at both ends with a flange at its top end. The inside of the rivet housing is a hollow cylindrical cavity that encompasses the entire rivet housing. The diameter of the hollow cylindrical cavity is slightly less than the diameter of the drive pin on the top and tapering to a reduced size towards the bottom of the rivet housing. The bottom of the rivet housing is slit lengthwise in three or four locations (120xc2x0 or 900xc2x0 apart so as to be equally spaced) and these slits extend upwards along the rivet housing for some fraction of its total length, stopping before they reach the top flange. The length of the rivet housing left unslit is determined by the thickness of the materials to be joined.
In the assembled pop rivet device the drive pin is mounted into the rivet housing from the top so that a part of its length is exposed above the flange on the rivet housing. The drive pin is held in place by friction, since the pin is slightly larger than the upper rivet housing cavity, and extends as far down into the rivet housing chamber as the tapered rivet housing interior allows without deforming the rivet housing. Note that the total length of the drive pin is greater than the total length of the rivet housing.
The conventional pop rivet fastener is used in the following manner. First the materials to be joined, which are typically thin metal base sheets, are placed against one another. Then a hole is drilled through the sheets where the rivet is to be placed, with the hole diameter just large enough to accommodate the rivet housing. Next the rivet is inserted bottom first into the hole by hand for affixing, with the top flange prohibiting the rivet from being pushed completely through the base sheets. The rivet is properly positioned when the base of the top flange lies flush against the top base sheet. The length of the rivet housing is chosen in conjunction with the materials being joined so that part of the rivet housing will emerge from the other side of the base sheets from which it entered.
The rivet is then affixed in the following manner. A blow is delivered by the operator to the head of the rivet, striking the drive pin which protrudes above the rivet housing flange. The pin is thus driven further downward into the rivet housing""s tapered interior cavity where the force of the blow, assisted by the slits in the rivet housing, causes the rivet housing to mushroom open on the other side of the base sheets thereby securely fixing the rivet, and hence the sheets to be joined, in place. In the usual case the top of the drive pin is flush with the top flange and the bottom of the pin emerges slightly from the bottom of the split rivet housing when the riveting is completed. The operator""s blow which starts this sequence is delivered by an operator using a simple hand hammer, pneumatic tool or similar device.
This conventional rivet fastener is limited by the types of materials it may fasten. A conventional rivet fastener is unable to fasten certain materials such as fiber glass to wood. The present invention, however, may attach wood to fiber glass and to a variety of other thin materials.
In accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention comprises an enhanced pop rivet comprising: a rivet body having a longitudinal axis and a first and second end, separated from one another along the longitudinal axis by a washer, the first end of the rivet body being configured to provide the rivet body with a deformable rivet base, the rivet body additionally having a shank that extends longitudinally from the washer to the second end, wherein the shank has an outer surface that is substantially cylindrical, wherein the shank has a cavity that that expands from a cavity disposed between the washer and the second end of the rivet body to an opening at the end of the second body, wherein the cavity contains a brad that is fixed to the washer and extends along the cavity to the opening at the end of the second body.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.